The ‘hottest’ 7 … hot springs

The idea for this article hit me while I was writing this post about awesome landscapes. I was doing some research, and when I found the amazing things hot water springs can create, it was obvious that this article had to come.

Pamukkale springs

It was created with pretty much the same elements as Mammoth Spring, but the aspect is not identical, because the deposition of the travertine depends on a number of factors, including weather, temperature, local geochemistry, etc.

Guelma spring

Located in Algeria, this hot water spring draws more and more people, despite the relatively remote area.

Here, you can practically see the travertine formations cascading down like waterfalls.

This happens because of the way it is formed. Initially, the mineral depositions are soft and jelly-ish (so to speak), but as time passes, they harden in whatever position they are left.

Blood Pond

The people who named it sure didn’t have to think a long time when they named it.

There are nine hot water springs in Beppu, and they’ve been nicknamed “hells”, due to the boiling water, and the Blood Pond is the “worst” of them. It’s also the nicest one to look at… at least if you ask me.

The Blue Lagoon

This Icelandic Blue Lagoon has been turned into a geothermal spa, due to the minerals in the water, such as silica and sulphur. These mineral rich waters are reputed to help people suffering from skin diseases.

Jigokudani Monkey Park

The name Jigokudani literally means Hell’s Valley – something with Japanese and hot water springs… can’t find a single one that’s not named hell.

The spring itself isn’t extremely spectacular, but the thing is, it’s famous due to a large population of Japanese Macaques, commonly known as snow monkeys. The smart rascals come down from the cold forests to take a warm bath… and who can blame them ?

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.